Quicksilver apparatus.



I. HAGBMAN.

QUIGKSILVER APPARATUS.

APPLICATION IILEI) MAY 17. 1909.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

2 SHEETS-8HBET 1.

WITNESSES:

arrow/E Y.

I. HAGBMAN.

QUIOKSILVEB. APPARATUS.

APPLICATION IILBD MAY 17, 1909. 970,705, Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- WITNESSES /NVENTOR HTTORNE Y IRA HAGEMAN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, (lALIF ORNIA.

aurcxsrnvnn APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentd Sept. 20, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRA HAGEMAN, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented new and use.- ful Improvements in Quicksilver Apparatus, of which the following is a 'specification.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for producing quicksilver from the ore by the well known operations of heating the ore and collecting and condensing the vapors in closed chambers.

The object. of the invention is the production of an apparatus for treating the ore and producing the met'al'by what I have termed a continuous process, in which the ore is fed in and passed through the furnace or vaporizing chamber in a continuous stream, instead. of being introduced and treated in .separate charges, and the fumes are removed and converted into the metal in a like continuous 'manner.

A further object of the invention'is the production of an improved quicksilver apparatus for carrying on by a continuous process the steps or operations whereby the metal is extracted from the ore, and especially for using crude oil,- or its distillates, for fuel. A quicksilver apparatus of my invention consists of the various parts and combination of parts and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a quicksilver apparatus embodying the various parts and features of the invention.

Figure 1- of the said drawings is a sideelevation of the furnace and the chambersi at the ends through which the ore is fed toand the refuse rock is withdrawn from the vaporizing cylinder the chambers and the means for regulating and controlling the feed and the discharge of the material being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the cylinder, showing its supportingand carrying means. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional-view, on an enlarged scale,of*the ore feeding means. Fig. 4 represents in end elevation the furnace on that part of the apparatus in which the ore is heated to volatilize the metal, and in longitudinal section the condensing chambers and connected parts.

Referring to the drawings a designates the cylinder inwhich the ore is subjected to Applicationfiled M21117, 1909. Serial No. 496,448.

the required de ees of heat to volatilize the metal; b an d are two chambers at opposlte ends of the cylinder and between which-it is arranged for continuous rotary motion when in operation.

The cylinder and the chambers are lined with fire-brick in the usual manner, and airtight 'oints securedbetween the ends of the cylm er and the chambers by packing rings ef similar in construction to the glands of t a stuffing-box on a c linder head; the inner one e, belng drawn mto the outer one f by screws 9.

Like the cylinders in apparatus of similar character em loy'ed' for roasting ores, the cylinder a is Inclined from the end connected to the feeding-in chamber 6 to the chamber d at the opposite end; the chamber-bd being placed 'on an inclined bed or framework of timbers 2-'3. For revolving the cylinder between these stationary chambers it is mounted on wheels 45 carried by hearing blocks 6'7' on the frame, and "is connected with a rotatable shaftv 8' by a toothed ring 9 on the body of the cylinder and a pinion 10 on thefshaft. Bearin rin 12 are Provided on the cylinder to ta e t e wear 0 the carrying wheels. The thrust of the cylinder due to its inclination is taken from the lower chamber d by rollers 13-14 placed in front of one of the flanges or rings der the middle of the cylinder, and additional ones at intermediate points between the middle and the ends when needed.

In thepresent construction of my improved apparatus the cylinder obtains its motion from a power driven shaft 17 with which the shaft 8 carryin the ,wheels 5 is connected by a worm-whee 18 on one shaft and a worm on'the other, the cylinderbeing connected with the shaft 8 by a pinion 18 in mesh with a toothed-ring 9 on the cylinder body. I

No novel features are involved in the manner of mountingand revolving the cylinder as above described, other construction or arrangementof means for the same (purpose may be employed as ma be foun better ada ted for cylinders 0 increased" length or iameter.

A novel feature in a quicksilver apparatus of my invention consists in the means for feedingthe ore continuously and for regulating the quantitypassing into the cylinderaccording as the conditions in the cylinder or other parts. of the apparatus maybe found to require from time to time. In this.

part; also, provision is made for; preventing the escape of fumes through the outlet and hopper tothe atmosphere whenever it becomes necessary to interrupt or suspend the flow or movement of the ore-into the cylinder. As embodied in the present apparatus this means consists of a feeding tube forming a horizontal extension or continuation of the bottom of a hopper into the chamber 12, and having a feeding screw com- -posed of a helical b1ade21' fast'on a shaft 22 to which rotary.motion inthe tube is given by connecting the shaft withthe shaft 8, or with some other moving shaft or part on the frame. In the present construction the connection is made by, sprocket-wheels.-

23:24 on the shaft and a chain-belt 25. This feeding-tube intersects thecontracted opening or mouth at the bottom of the'hop per and extending therefrom into the chamber it terminates in an open end to which is tted a lid or flap 26 so attached to the tube by a hinge-joint-27 as to seat on the end of the tube and close the outlet by grav the cylinder when the outlet. is not filled with ore, or whenfrom any-reasonthe flow of the ore from the tube into the cylinder is interrupted or wthefstreame is .not moving under suflicient pressure to keep the mouth.

of the tube well filled. Under normal con-j ditions of working the lid is heldaw'ayfrom its seat by the pressure of the movingstream of ore, and as the weight of the lid is always acting in opposition-to the force exerted by the'feeding'screw, the stream of ore becomes somewhat compressed or compacted pinthe theoutflow of the'ore continues.

'tube so that the particles of ore e the outlet will keep back the. fumes w For controlling and regulatin the quana tityg'of ore passing into the -.f from the hopper a plate 28 inthe throat of the hopper is adjustable with relation toone wall'or side of .the hopper-to contract the area of the throat to a greater! or less ex tent, vor close it altogether; for which urpose it is attachedby a hinge 29 to the ack wall of the hopper on the lnside'and is adjustable'from the outside by a screw-rod 30 workin in a threaded socket 31 in the back of the opper, the end of the rod being set against the back of the plate 28 on which is a bearing-block 32 'to take the end of the screw. A hand-crank 33 in the opposite end of the rod furnishes a convenient means for turning the rod 30 from the outside of the hopper.

- he quantity of ore passing into the cylin- 'der from 'the feeding hopper is always under control and is readily increased or reduced by varying the areaofthe throat of the hopper, While the. screw in the feedingtube may be turning at the same speed.- The progress of the ore through the cylinder and its even distribution over the bottom of the cylinder from end to end, on the other discharge from the lower endoof the cylin der; and a further novel feature of thejinvention consists in a provision .of means for controlling the discharge of the spent rock fromthat end of the apparatus and thereby varying and regulating from time to time the depth of the moving body of ore'being hand, is controlled by the rapidity of its acted on by the heat, as well asthe rate at which the ore is being moved while being subjected to the'heat.

By checking or restricting the outflow of t e' spent material from that end, while the feeding-in of the ore at the opposite end is going on-thefbody of ore is main-' tained at any desired depth inthe cylinder and it can be kept to any'desired period of longer or shorter duration within the region of the eatest heat as it approaches and is move through that part of the cylinder.

This end is attained'also by the novel a'p-;

plication and arran ement of means for introducing and burmg liquid. fuel inthe cylinder,' in which oil-burnersfle of well known construction set in the chamber-(l and-connected witha supply tank 35'out.- side are arranged to set up and maintainv by the combustion of the fuel within the cylinder the degrees of heat required. Thec amber d from whichthespent rock passes out ofthe apparatus being 'alsowthe fuel chamber, the ore is under the influenc'e'of the-greatest heat at the point of its discharge fromthe cylinder, so that by chokin or reducing the outlet the body of ore wil back up in the cylinder. and its flow or travel canbef retarded to a greater or less extent according to the exist in thecyhnder. p

The means rovided'for'that urpose consists of an a ustable gate 36". iaced in the conditions found to trlmk or discharge tube'37 lea ing from the" bottom of the chamber d to the outside, and

arranged like the gate 28 in the feed-hopper soas tovaryby its angular position the if area of the |.o'utlet; its upper end bein at-I1 tached by a hin e 38 to one wall 0 vthe tubeon the insi e, and. its lower end ing a ainst the end of a screw-rod 39, works ing t rough a threaded socketin the epposite side of the tube a handle.

'37 and provided;

ite

Inadapting this ap aratus to use oil for fuel provision is ma e for connecting the combustion-chamber With a stack or chimney until the condition of effective combustion and the required degrees of heat are produced in the cylinder, and for shuttin off the communication with the chimney an connecting the cylinder with the condensing chambers. This part of the apparatus in which the fumes generated in the cylinder are collected and condensed consists of a series of brick-work chambers communicatng after the manner of condens ng chambers employed in quicksilver apparatus; the outlet from one chamber to the next in the series being located at the farthest point from the inlet, so as to cause the fumes to travel through the whole seriesrin a circuitous manner to the final outlet.

Each chamber has apertures 41 in the floor through "which the metal finds outlet and collects in a pit or chamber 42 beneath. The first chamber of the series is connected by a pipe 43 with the stack 44 on the chamber b, and above the oint of connection the stack is provided ,Wltll a damper 45 for closing the outlet to the chimney after the burners have been started and the temperature raised to the required degrees to act on the ore. These conditions are accelerated by closing the outlet to the condensing chambers E when communication'with the a chimney is open; and the pipe or conducting passage for the fumes is tted with a damper 46 for that purpose. This feature of roviding direct connection with a chimney in starting the oil-burners, and producing a condition of effective combustionin the fire-chamber, and of shutting off the outlet to the chimney and connecting the cylinder space with the condensing chambers when the temperature begins to act on the ore, is an important feature in the practical and successful employment of oil fuel in operating quicksilver ores. i

In connection with, the condensing chambers E of this apparatus I provide a safety blow off G consisting of a trapped outlet; 47 in the top of one of. the chambers closed by a water-seal, and. a means for automatically restorin the seal whenever it may be destroyed by t e ressure set up in the chamber by accumu at in fumes, as well as for maintaining-the sea in working condition by replacing any waste or reduction in the body of water in the trap. This means consists in a water tank 48 connected with the trap-chamber 47 by a pipe 49 and a supply-pipe 50 leading into the tank with a float operated valve-51 of any well known construction arranged in the" tank to control the sup ly of water? The sup y-tank is arranged and its valve is .adjuste to Q erate 'in such'manner' that the working love of the tank-water is maintion of a revolving volatilizin volatilizin 'end the material to be treated and an outlet for the waste material from the end of the cylinder opposite to the feeding in end.

2. In a quicksilver furnace, the combination of a revolving "volatilizingcylinder, a feedin -in chamber for the material in one end of the c linder, a feeding-in device adapted to a va-nce the material continuously in said conductor, means for preventing the .esca e of the volatilized products from the cy inder through said conductor, an outlet for the waste products from the cylinder, and means for controlling said 'outlet to preventthe escape of. the volatilized matter from said waste roduct outlet, and;

means for burnin 'liqui 'in the end of the cylinder farthest rom the feeding-in end.

' 3. In a quicksilver furnace, the combinafeeding-in device in one end 0 the cylin or adapted to be continuously operated, a li uid fuel burner situated in the end of the cy linder farthest from the feeding-in end; a condensin chamber, means for carr ing 0E the volatilized matter from the cylinder'and discharging it into the condensing chamber an outlet from the cylinder for carrying o the waste products of combustion, means for separately controlling said-outlets and means for preventing the escape of es from the waste products outlet.

4. In a quicksilver furnace, a revolving chamber cylinder, a stationa a feeding- 1n device in said cham er having a conductor extending into the cylinder, a stationary chamber at the opposite end having an outlet for the waste products discharged from the'end of the said 0 linder means for separately controlling t e said inlet and outlet to prevent the escape of the volatilized products at the feeding in and cylinder a discharge end of the said 'cylinder l f'and means independent of the feeding-in and discharging devices for regulating the feed of the material at one end, and the discharge of the waste products at the opposite end.

5. In a quicksilver furnace, the combination of a revolving volatilizing cylinder, an ore-hopper, a conductor leading, from the outlet of the hopper into the cylinder, an ore feeding device in said conductor, means outlet and means operating to close the outlet end of the conductor when the discharge of the ore therefrom into the cylinder is interrupted. r

6. In a quicksilver furnace the combination of a revolving volatilizing cylinder,"

having an oil burner in one end and an outlet for the products of combustion from the opposite end to the atmosphere, means in said outlet for controlling the communication with the atmosphere, a condensing chamber, and means for controlling communication'of the cylinder with said chamber, an ore feeding device adapted to introduce the ore into the cylinder at the end farthest from the fuel burner, and an outlet for the waste product at the fuel burning end..

7. The combination with a revolving volatilizing cylinder of a feeding hopper, a tubular conductor leading from the outlet of the hopper into the cylinder, an 'adjustable gate in said hopper adapted to con-- trol the outlet, an ore feeding device in said conductor and means adapted to close communication betweensaid ore conductor and the cylinder when the discharge of the ore from said conductor is suspen ed.

8 A furnace for extracting volatilizable metal from their ores and converting the same to a metallic form, comprisingarevolving volatilizing cylinder, an ore supply hopper, means for continuously feeding the ore from said hopper including a conductor the outlet end. of said conductor when the discharge ofthe ore ceases, an. outlet for the Waste product from the end of the cylinder opposite the feedin in end, means for intro- I ducing liquid fuel mto the cylinder, a conductor connecting the cylinder with an outlet to the atmosphere and. means for con-t trolling the same.

. IRAjaHAGEMAN.

- Witnesses:

' EDWARD E. OsBoRN,

M. REGNER. 

